cena Italian · revision 37797

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Gerardo Patecchio|origins=itc-pro *kertsnā}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈt͡ʃe.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cena''' ''f'' (plural cene)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old northern texts have [[roa-oit|zena]] and [[m|roa-oit|cenna]].^(TLIO)^(LEI|13, 802)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cēna|t=the main meal of the day]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(LEI|13, 802) In classical Rome it was the main meal, taken after work in the afternoon; in late antiquity it became the evening meal, as Festus explains.^(LEI|13, 802)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The word lives on in almost all the Romance languages: [[ro|cină]], [[dlm|caina]], [[fur|cène]], [[rm|tscheina]], [[oc|cena]], [[es|cena]], [[pt|ceia]] and [[sc|chena]].^(LEI|13, 802)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|848) DEI notes that it has disappeared from southern Italy, together with the word for lunch.^(DEI|848)

+

+ The Latin noun had an older form [[la|cēsna|alt=cesna]], recorded by Festus, and corresponds to [[osc|kersnu|t=meal]] and [[xum|śesna|t=meal]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|848) It goes back to [[itc-pro|*kertsnā]], usually explained as [[ine-pro|*kért-s-nh₂|t=portion]] from a root [[ine-pro|*(s)kert-|t=to cut]], so that a meal was first a “cut portion”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) De Vaan finds this development unproblematic, while Schrijver prefers a link with [[la|Cerēs]], the goddess of grain.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the Cremonese poet Gerardo Patecchio, in his ''Frotula'': ''et a lontano albergo andare ad cena'' (“and to go to supper at a distant inn”).^(TLIO)^(GDLI) DELI and GRADIT place it in the 12th century, the TLIO and the LEI at the beginning of the 13th.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(TLIO)^(LEI|13, 802)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the beginning the word meant the meal, the food and the time of day at which it is eaten.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003) In Christian use it named the Last Supper of Jesus and the Apostles, and in Old Italian also the feast of Maundy Thursday.^(TLIO)^(LEI|13, 802) Figuratively it could stand for the end of a day or of a life: Petrarch has ''una terribil cena'' for the death of Leonidas' men.^(TLIO)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The verb ''cenare'' appears in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century, and ''cenacolo'', the room of the Last Supper, in Cavalca before 1342.^(DELI 1999) ''Cenacolo'' took the sense “literary circle” from [[fr|cénacle]] in the 19th century, and ''cenone'', the large Christmas Eve supper, is recorded in 1865.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 13th century – Gerardo Patecchio uses ''cena''.^(TLIO)

+ * Late 13th century – ''Cenare'' appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1336–1338 – Boccaccio uses ''cena'' in the ''Filocolo''.^(LEI|13, 802)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ''cenacolo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1847 – Giusti uses ''cenacolo'' for a circle of writers.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1865 – ''Cenone'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|dinner]], [[m|en|supper]], the evening meal: ''Stasera siamo a cena dai nonni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The food eaten at this meal: ''Ho preparato una cena leggera.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The time of the evening meal: ''Ci sentiamo dopo cena.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(religion)'' The [[m|en|Last Supper]] (''l'Ultima Cena''), and a painting of it, ''Santa Cena'', Communion in some Protestant churches.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(history)'' The main meal of the ancient Romans, begun in the late afternoon.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cenare]]

+ * [[cenacolo]]

+ * [[cenone]]

+ * [[cenetta]]

+ * [[dopocena]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|cēna]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''chi va a letto senza cena tutta notte si dimena'' says that whoever goes to bed without supper tosses all night.^(Treccani 2011) ''Non mettere insieme il pranzo con la cena'' means to earn barely enough to live.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}